


Surprise!

by Far_Beyond_The_Universe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, Emotional Keith, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 17:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20343724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Far_Beyond_The_Universe/pseuds/Far_Beyond_The_Universe
Summary: Lance and Keith have been long-distance for nearly a year and Lance decides to change that by surprising Keith and moving to New York to be with his boyfriend.





	Surprise!

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a draft of this several months ago and was rather unhappy with it. I mostly forgot about it but was going through my files today and stumbled into it. I edited it (and I'm really happy with how it has turned out). I definitely didn't plan to post this today but it brought me a lot of joy so I hope it brings you all joy as well!

Long distance relationships are hard. There are, of course, Skype calls scheduled multiple times a week, a constant text conversation that bounces from memes to serious topics, and phone sex a few times. There are long weekends to visit one another that were never long enough. Lance had taken to writing long letters full of love, which he sent to Keith weekly. Every little tether that he could keep with his boyfriend was one that Lance held onto tightly.

Keith didn’t love Lance less than Lance loved him, but had a harder time expressing his emotions over the distance. He never remembered to mail anything and when it came to letter writing it was like pulling teeth trying to figure out exactly what to put down. The phone sex was awkward for him (Lance too, honestly), though the texting was a familiar comfort as it had been something they’d kept up even before Lance had moved for his job. The weekends and Skype calls were the best part, though.

Their friends rallied around them, admiring their dedication and that their relationship was still as strong as it had been when they could see each other every day. If Lance were asked he would probably even say that he thought their relationship was stronger now, since they may not see each other as frequently as they wanted but he still felt his love grow for Keith every day. If Keith were asked he would say that of course their relationship was strong, they might be apart but that was why they communicated MORE.

But now, almost a full year on opposite coasts, Lance knew that he couldn’t do long distance any more.

After finishing college they had both been offered their dream positions—Lance working with endangered marine life in southern California, Keith working with troubled teenagers in New York City. Neither had expected to get their positions let alone that they would both get what they wanted! It had been a compromise to move away from each other and there had been promises that they would eventually live together again, but Lance couldn’t see how unless one of them decided to move. Which would mean, in part, giving up on a dream. And he couldn’t do that to Keith, so Lance had secretly been searching for jobs in the New York area.

And then he got one. It was definitely a compromise, as it involved no hands-on work with animals, but rather working as part of a publishing house that specialized in marine biology. 

“Hey babe,” Lance called Keith that night.

“Love you more,” Keith said, automatic.

“No, I love you more. Hey, I was thinking of visiting next weekend. I know it’s last minute but—”

“Yes!”

“You’re not busy?” Lance teased. He loved Keith, loved him so much, but the guy had absolutely no social life unless it involved Shiro, who lived in a suburb near the city (which was going to come in handy for Lance’s plan).

“Asshole, you know I’m not. Yes, come, please. I don’t care how last minute it is. I’ll take off that Friday so we get more time together. Should I make reservations anywhere?” Keith was so eager Lance almost broke on the spot and told him everything. 

“Somewhere near a park; it’s summer, I want to go on a romantic evening stroll with my boyfriend afterwards.”

Their conversation wandered and meandered and even got a little dirty when Lance told Keith what he would be doing to him Friday night and then…

“I’ll see you soon, Lance,” Keith’s voice broke a little bit.

“I can’t wait to see you, sweetheart. I love you so much.” Lance wiped his eyes and hung up.

He gathered his voice and then called Shiro.

“Lance? Hey! How are you?” Shiro answered after three rings.

They made small talk for a short while and then Lance dropped the bomb. “Shiro, can you keep a secret? From Keith?”

“Lance…” Lance heard the guarded older brother in Shiro’s tone.

“I want to surprise him, but I need your help and I need to make sure that you’re not going to accidentally spoil this whole thing for me. So… can you keep a secret?”

“If I think it’ll hurt Keith in any way—”

“Shiro, seriously,” Lance said in a joking tone. Deep down, though, he was a little hurt. Did Shiro actually not trust him to take care of Keith? 

“I’m just saying—” 

“Okay, fine, yes, if it’s going to hurt Keith in any way you can definitely tell him. Okay? Happy? Look, I really want to surprise him with this and I need your help. I got a job in New York. I’ve hired a moving truck. I’ve packed most of my things. I’m driving down there and should arrive Thursday. He knows I’m coming, but he doesn’t know that I’m coming permanently. Can I keep the moving truck at your place until I tell him? He’s making a reservation for a nice restaurant on Saturday night, so I was going to tell him then, or after. Probably afterwards.” Lance knew that the excitement was probably shining through his voice but he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—temper it.

But there was no sound on the other end of the line.

“Shiro?”

Oh god. Lance started panicking. Shiro disapproved. He must. He didn’t want Lance moving in with Keith.

“Shiro? I mean, Keith and I, we’ve talked about it, in the abstract, we both agreed that if the other wanted to move in there was room and I know we’re both hurting from being so far apart, and I love him so much so I thought this might be a nice surprise,” Lance’s voice sped up the more he talked in his panic. He eyes flew around his room to the few necessities he hadn’t packed away in boxes yet.

“Lance, Lance, hey, stop rambling, I’m going to help you,” Shiro said, though his voice sounded strange. “I just, wow, just, got a bit emotional. I—this is a great surprise. Keith is going to be so happy. Ha! I’m thrilled on his behalf!”

Lance let out a sigh of relief and forced himself to calm down. The two hashed out the details and Lance was good to go.

…

**Saturday**

Keith picked a nice restaurant that also didn’t break the budget. They got milkshakes for dessert and drank them as they walked through the park. There were fairy lights in the trees and the path was lit by low to the ground solar powered lamps, lending everything a whimsical glow. You could forget you were in a big city. Since it’s the tail end of spring it’s warm enough to be out with only a thin jacket and there are plenty of couples around.

Eventually the stop and sit on a park bench; they listen to the night birds.

Lance his shoulder against Keith’s. “I have a surprise for you,” he says.

Keith turns towards him and his smile blinds Lance for a moment. 

“So… I know you don’t exactly have a huge apartment, but we’ve tossed around the idea in a theoretical sense… about moving in together…” Lance says. Keith looks like he’s trying to follow but isn’t quite sure what he’s following along with. “I mean… about me moving in with you. Would that be okay? If I moved in with you?" 

Lance knows it’s okay with Keith or he wouldn’t have planned this whole surprise, but having Keith, in a rare burst of unrestrained emotion, throw himself onto Lance and just koala-hug him was the perfect reward.

“That’s a yes, then?” Lance says cheerily.

“Yes, asshole, that’s a yes. A thousand times yes. When? You need a job, but this is New York. And you need to sell your place but that’s not that hard it’s an apartment.” Keith is planning and Lance hates to stop him because anything Keith says is something he wants to listen to. But, there’s more.

“Well, I’ve actually got a job. And my place is on the market. And all my stuff is at Shiro’s—he’s in on the surprise. So, technically, I could move in tomorrow if that would be alright with you.”

Lance knows he has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face but watching Keith’s face go through a spectrum of thoughts and emotions is great. He settles on smacking Lance across the arm and then pulling him in for a kiss.

“I mean,” Keith says, “based off of last night you’ve practically made yourself at home.”

Any “sexy-times” that might have been about to happen are abruptly stopped when a mother and her herd of children walk down the path all giggling and jumping around. Lance and Keith separate themselves a respectable amount, so as not to scar the little ones; the two are close enough so that Keith can nuzzle into Lance’s shoulder and they can keep their hands grasped tightly together.

“Oh my god,” Keith says. “I get to live with my boyfriend again. Oh my god, Lance, I love you.”

The family has passed when Lance gently pulls a little away from their embrace. He’d rehearsed this moment for so long. Weeks and weeks and months and months and every hour when he was driving out here and when they were eating dinner and when they were walking to this bench.

“There is just one _tiny _condition,” Lance says. 

Keith’s smile doesn’t falter. “Anything.”

In a breath Lance is on his knee in front of Keith. He’s pulling a small box out of his pocket. How he refrained from touching his pocket every few moments to remind himself that it was there, he doesn’t know. Not even Shiro knew this part of the surprise. He pops open the jewelry box.

“Marry me,” he says.

Lance thought he would be more afraid in this moment but that was a stupid thought. Keith was his Everything. Even if Keith said no, he would still be Lance’s Everything.

Keith is clearly in shock. His mouth is dropped open and he’s frozen in place, lit up by the soft, warm lights all around them.

Lance is patient. Well, if he’s being honest, he doesn’t even know if time is passing quickly or being drawn out. Doesn’t matter, time is a construct and, more importantly, he would wait eternally for Keith.

And then Keith falls to his own knees and surges forward against Lance and is grabbing Lance impossibly tighter than he had only a few minutes earlier. He’s holding him like Lance is his Everything which, he is. Lance holds him back. He feels complete.

“Yes,” Keith whispers into Lance’s ear. “Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.”

It’s with reluctance that they pull apart just enough for Lance, with shaking fingers, to slide the ring onto Keith’s finger. Still on the ground and pressed as closely as they can be, Keith looks at the diamond sparkle in the fairy lights. He looks up at Lance.

“Lance…” he says his name like it is a dream. Like he’s just tasting it for the first time. “Lance…”

“Surprise,” Lance says, and then he kisses his fiancé.

**Author's Note:**

> So, were you guys surprised? I wanted it to be a surprise for the readers as well as Keith and I hope I pulled it off. Please let me know if you figured it out or were surprised because I'm always trying to advance my writing. Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
